News Update
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that 55,859 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were collected in Ondo State within just five days, ahead of the upcoming governorship election on November 16.
It was gathered that the distribution of PVCs, which began on October 17 across the state’s 203 wards, has seen a significant turnout of voters eager to participate in the polls.
According to VAM News, the PVC collection figures also include individuals who applied for the transfer or replacement of lost or damaged cards.
Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chair of the Information and Voter Education Committee, disclosed in a statement on Tuesday that the number of PVCs collected represents 62.2% of the 89,777 cards available for distribution.
“This is the highest percentage of PVCs collected in five days in Ondo State since the Commission introduced the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in 2015,” Olumekun said.
VAM News understands that a detailed breakdown of the PVC collection by Local Government Areas (LGAs) has been made available on INEC’s official website and social media platforms for public information.
INEC further announced that the collection of PVCs will continue at its 18 LGA offices in Ondo State from Wednesday, October 23, to Tuesday, October 29, between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm daily, including weekends.
VAM News gathered that voters are encouraged to personally pick up their PVCs, as the commission emphasized that no cards will be issued to proxies.
In preparation for the governorship election, INEC is set to deploy 4,002 Bimodal Voter Accreditation Systems (BVAS) across the state’s polling units.
According to Naija247news, 812 additional BVAS machines will be held in reserve as backups to ensure a smooth electoral process.
Speaking at a media forum on Tuesday, Oluwatoyin Babalola, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Ondo State, revealed that 17,705 trained ad hoc staff will be deployed for the poll to ensure efficient operations across the polling units.
She also assured that security personnel would be stationed at all polling units, collation centers, and other strategic locations across the state.
Babalola emphasized that the safety of the media, electoral stakeholders, and voters is a top priority for INEC. “We are fully committed to delivering a peaceful and secure election,” she said.
As the election date draws closer, VAM News understands that INEC’s preparations aim to ensure a transparent and efficient process that will enable Ondo State citizens to exercise their democratic rights smoothly.
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